Welsh Room Rescue

'Some of Swansea's most desperate homes are about to be transformed.'

-Any chance of cracking on, next door?

-Yes.

-And doing it without chatting?

'Plasterer Jamie Denyer is a man on a mission.'

Whenever you fancy doing a stroke of work, just let me know,

because it's not as if we're up against a deadline or anything.

'He may be a tough taskmaster, but this isn't your typical job

'and he isn't your typical tradesman.'

'He wants to help Welsh families in the only way he can.'

You can't take away illness,

you can't erase people's memories of a negative past,

but what we can do is hammer a couple of bits of two-by-four together, plasterboard it,

plaster it, paint it, and hopefully just make them smile a little bit.

'Since moving to Swansea two years ago,

'Brighton-born Jamie Denyer has started an extraordinary project.'

I started up my project, my charity project, ETSETH,

which stands for Enlarge The Spirit, Encourage The Heart

and basically, what I was offering to do was plaster a room free of charge.

People either send a letter of nomination or an e-mail,

via the ETSETH website, nominating a deserving person.

I then pick a couple of the letters themselves,

because you can tell a lot from a letter.

You can get a real good feel for it.

I will then get in contact with that person, go to their house,

do a site visit, have a cup of tea and a chat,

get a little bit more or other feel for the person themselves,

and then it will be a case of booking in a time to make over the room.

Now, I've created a little bit of a monster.

It's a big, pink, fluffy monster that's more likely to hug you

than bite you, but it's a monster nonetheless.

'Jamie's next project takes him to Scurlage,

'in the Gower, where life has been less than rosy

'for Sharon and teenage daughter Katie.'

That's some fat sausage rolls there, aren't there?

'Dealing with a marriage break-up is hard enough,

'but they've also inherited an unfinished extension.'

For the past sort of three years or so,

Katie and I have had to kind of start all over again,

when her dad and I separated.

-Hiya, Jamie, how are you?

-Good, thanks.

-Come on in.

'When Katie's dad and I were still together, we planned to build

'the extension, we started it, and he was building it with a friend.

'They were doing all the work themselves.'

This, plan-wise, was supposed to be an en suite.

You can see that the wall has been kept, there...

'And we separated then, and I remortgaged the house

'and added some money on to that remortgage,

'to finish the extension off, but I didn't realise how much,'

I suppose, materials, it was a big shock,

I had no idea on how much it was going to cost.

And then this is the bedroom.

This is the bedroom, the bedroom-to-be.

'I did a little bit of work on it, what we could,

'and of course the money ran out then, so for three years, perhaps,'

now, three-and-a-half years, we've done absolutely nothing on it.

And that's basically because we just can't afford to get it completed.

I think we can make a bit of a change in here, in all fairness.

It will look a tiny bit different by the time we're done!

That will be very good, yeah.

That's all I'm going to say.

'Well, my first thoughts are that we can make a massive difference.'

'The only thing is, I think we're going to have to prioritise

'as to what can actually be done.'

'As you can see there's two bedrooms downstairs, the little hallway, there is also an attic room upstairs.

Now, the attic room I don't think is a priority,

inasmuch as it being used straightaway.

There's going to be a bedroom for Katie there,

and there was another room that was going to be an en suite,

but the plumbing works that would need to be done in there,

because it hasn't been position in its rightful place,

it's going to be a lot of aggro, plumbing into that,

so that's going to be another kind of habitable room.

By prioritising the downstairs, we can get it done

to a much, much higher standard.

Because there is no budget there,

what we've got is purely donated, so we will do what we can

with what we've got, but I think, with what I can sort out,

beg and borrow from, it's a case of, we can make a real change in there.

-Aye, aye, the cavalry's here.

-How are you, mate, how are you doing? All right?

'There's no time like the present for Jamie.'

'He's called the cavalry, in the form of carpenter Steve and Jamie's apprentice, Corey.'

If we concentrate on clearing out, a bit of preparation work,

we'll plasterboard, there's a stud wall to be built, mate,

so if you could crack on with that, that'd be fantastic.

Let's get the tools out then. Come on, boys, let's do it.

Jamie, now, I've been helping for about the last year.

I've only done about three jobs with him so far,

but I hope to do a lot more in the future, you know?

It's very rewarding, doing it.

Really enjoy it.

-Less talk, more work!

-Sorry, sorry!

Corey has helped me out loads on these projects and I think,

in its own way, it's like an example, because I mean, he's 19 years old,

and there's so much bad press about youngsters of that particular age.

Corey has been in the paper a couple of times now

and it's for the reason of the projects,

where people that he actually knows, are actually in there for,

like, mugging someone, thieving and going on a downward spiral.

But he's held in very, very high esteem with his friends now.

We are sort of really proud for what he does

and sort of all credit to him, you know?

'Although Jamie has an army of volunteers,

'it wasn't always this way.'

When I first started this,

it was just literally me plastering a room, free of charge.

And that's how it went for, like, the first four months.

And then, it was a case of, er, more people heard about it,

people that I'd done paid work through, other trades,

they then said they wouldn't mind lending a hand,

so it's a case of, we've got people like Steve next door,

I've got three other carpenters, a painter and decorator, electrician,

so the scope of what can be done, all of a sudden widened.

'Each project must be nominated.'

'In Sharon's case, it was current partner

'and work colleague Theo who approached Jamie.'

I nominated Sharon because, basically,

they extension was not only unfinished,

but we couldn't ever see a way

of getting it finished.

Sharon's so selfless, always giving her time for anybody

and everybody else and never having much time for herself, really.

So anything that can give them a better way of life, quality,

it's great, you know?

'A few days later and it's a gloomy start in Scurlage,

'but that hasn't dampened Jamie's enthusiasm.'

'Normally, he gives up two days

'but in this instance, he's given himself less than two weeks

'to transform Sharon's extension.'

As you can see, the boys are in next door, Dean and Geraint.

Dean's helped me out numerous times. This is Geraint's first time.

They're sort of keen as mustard.

I think they wet the bed this morning, both of them!

But, today, as you can see, it's all plasterboarded,

fibre tape's all ready to go,

so the first bit were going to do is the ceiling and the two walls.

I met Jamie about two years ago.

He had met a girl from Swansea who I was in school with,

he'd moved down with her,

and he just contacted me to see if I had any work.

He happened to mention that he was doing these charity jobs,

and I thought that was a nice thing to do.

I said, "Next time, I'll give you a hand," and here we are, two years on.

We've seen some unfortunate cases.

People really appreciate what we do for them,

and it's only a day out of my week.

It's easy for us to come here and do this and we get a lot from it.

'Jamie's decision to start donating his expertise

'came following his own personal heartache and then meeting his new Swansea bride.'

I was living in Essex and married up there, and, just out of the blue,

was told, "That's it, game over, you know, I want to separate."

And it knocked me for six, in all fairness.

The difficulties that come with that was, I went from

a two-salary relationship to a one-salary relationship.

My, you know, my mortgage went higher.

I had two young plasterers on the books

that I felt a real responsibility to,

that I couldn't just sort of sack them at the time,

so I was taking out little personal loans,

I was getting a credit card,

which was something I said I would never do,

you know, just to keep things ticking over.

But it was on a random night out in Brighton where I met a girl

and after saying to myself, "Well, that's it,

"I'm not looking for anything,

"marriage is the biggest sham in the world,"

all this, that and the other,

she restored my faith in a lot of things.

-How's it going, chaps? You winning?

-Yep, getting there.

'I think Sharon has hit a chord with me because I can really relate

'to what she went through, because I went through exactly the same thing.'

Now, Sharon as a person, Katie as a person,

go a long way for me to do a project.

They're lovely people.

Sharon does work for a very worthy and deserving cause.

It's just all little elements and I think, because it will benefit them as a whole,

but it will benefit Katie, who's still a youngster.

It's all kind of part of the emotional healing process.

Sort of cracking the whip on 'em. Can't let 'em slack.

'Over the last three years,

'not only has Sharon dealt with the aftermath of a marriage breakdown,

'she's also started a new job at a homeless charity in Swansea.'

When you start a new job, you don't know people very well, and of course

you don't want to tell people what's going on in your personal life.

You don't yet have that relationship with them.

So it was really difficult, and, at the beginning, I thought, "Oh, my God, what have I done?"

Obviously, Katie was - is -

a big part of my life, and she did have a lot of issues

going through school because, at the time as well,

it was the sort of transition between primary school

and comprehensive school and it didn't go well for her,

so all my time, really, was taken up with work and Katie.

'Back in the extension, Jamie has come up with a plan.'

The smaller room was supposed to be an en suite, but because of

how it was planned, how the drainage is set up, it's just not viable,

it's too expensive,

so what were going to do is,

I thought that because this has been a very hard process on Katie,

I would like to do something like a chill-out room,

basically, a room where she can go in and just sort of relax

and also do her studies in peace and quiet.

I think she actually deserves that, you know?

'It's the following day, and with the plastering magic performed,

'Jamie is armed with more generous handymen, carpenters Pete and Gaz.'

'He's also quite pleased with the progress,

'even though there's still plenty to do.'

'Once it's at this stage,

'you can start to sort of a visualise it as a room, you know?'

This is when you can start to sort of see light at the end of the tunnel, you know?

And now that the boys are here today, it's in my mind's eye now

that the skirting and the architraves are going to be on,

and it's a case of, you can start to think of the finishing touches.

Once it's dry, the paint and other stuff is going to be going down.

Yeah, it's a good feeling.

I call Corey "the solar eclipse", because he only works now and again.

About once in a blue moon, mate, because you work me so hard.

-Just carry on now, eh?

-Yeah.

You ain't a bad boy, really, are you? He's a star, an absolute star.

If truth be known, whatever goes wrong,

Corey then digs us out of a hole, really.

Corey is the glue that holds this whole operation together.

'Whilst the extension is left in Corey's capable hands,

'Jamie needs to beg and borrow elsewhere.'

Just going into town to sort and the donation of carpets.

Sharon doesn't actually know that the carpets are going down.

I think, in her mind,

it is just literally the case of the stage that it's at now,

and painted, really.

Which, you know, she would be over the moon with,

but I'm trying to get every single little finishing touch that I can,

to make it look as good as we can.

And hopefully she'll be pleasantly surprised with that.

-How are you, Steve?

-Pretty good, mate. How you?

-Yes, very good.

Jamie has spoken to a company about the possibility of donating carpets.

We appreciate you donating the carpets. Superb.

Right, I've chatted to the manufacturer. These are the kind of things we're looking at.

With less than a week to finish the extension,

it looks as though Jamie is onto a winner.

Well, in all fairness, we're spoilt for choice here.

I thought it was just going to be a case of one or the other,

but we are spoilt for choice.

So far, Jamie has helped over 20 families.

One family who has benefited from his generosity is the Worgan family.

Because their dad has gone to Afghanistan and the kids want to bring their friends back,

I nominated the family as a group

because I wanted the living room

to be decent and it wasn't at the time, it was a mess.

He, basically, ripped it apart

and completely replastered the room from top to bottom.

Then, as a plus point, we came back from holiday

and he'd completely renovated my daughter's bedroom.

She was just so happy. We weren't expecting that.

We were just expecting a basic bit of plastering.

It made an amazing difference, cos there is no way we would have been able to afford it.

My daughter's room was covered in mould and we couldn't get rid of it.

We didn't know what we were going to do.

We tried papering, but it grew back over the paper.

So it has made a massive difference. I think he is a star.

A genuinely nice person who wants to make a difference to people's lives.

I just think he's a really stand-up guy.

It is a few days since work has been done in Scurlage. Today, there's a new hive of activity.

This is Hannah's first time she has helped out.

Emma has helped out on a number of occasions.

She has done quite a few jobs and she is absolutely loving it.

It's people like Emma, having people like Emma aboard,

it just makes the whole project roll smoothly.

She's, yeah, she's an absolute diamond.

I met a Jamie in a pub.

Erm, I was telling him I was in college

doing painting and decorating.

He explained to me what he does

and I thought it was a really brilliant thing to do.

I thought, "I'd love to do that."

I've always wanted to do something for charity,

but never really known what to do or what you could do to help.

When I found out about this, I thought, "This is brill."

So, I've been doing it ever since.

We haven't been here for the past couple of days,

because we had to let stuff settle and the plaster to dry out.

But, yeah, by the end of tomorrow, we should be there or thereabouts

and then it's a case of waiting for the carpets to be fitted,

the blinds to be fitted

and then Steve the carpenter is coming back on Saturday

to do the finishing touches, such as put on the doors and stuff like that.

So, we should be there or thereabouts.

-Is this the second coat that is going on?

-Yep, this is the second one.

-The second coat.

-This is going on good.

-Once you've done that, any chance of cracking on next door?

-Yep.

-And doing it without chatting?!

-Yes!

-So we get a little bit more done.

-Any chance of that, any danger?

-No(!)

-I didn't think so, really(!)

-Let's be realistic(!)

-It's like asking me to hold my breath!

-Yeah!

Jamie really needs to push the pace if he is to finish the job on time.

Sharon and Katie are expecting to see the finished extension in two days.

Yes, on the painting side, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

We're in the final throes. It's the last finishing touches.

-I can still smell paint.

-Yeah.

-I was just wondering.

It's the aroma of progression, let's call it that.

That's good. That good.

But, whether you will like the fuchsia pink, is another thing.

It's, it's, er, progression, nonetheless.

-It will be a bachelorette pad.

-You will never see her.

-No.

-You'll think she's left home.

Perhaps she'll lock me in. That's what will happen.

-She might get the key for that door and lock me in, so I can't get out.

-I like that idea!

With the tea break over,

Jamie will have to work well into the night to get the painting done.

It's the day before the extension is unveiled.

The carpets are being laid, but Jamie has other priorities today.

As you can see, the juggling act is sort of in full swing.

The juggling act of the project and the paid work.

I'm here today on my own.

Corey is on another job, getting it prepped up

and starting the ball rolling there,

because we are only a day away from Sharon's big reveal.

So, yeah, it's a case of getting this job

and the other job done tomorrow, then we can concentrate on putting our energy and focus

into bringing Sharon's over the finishing line.

Because I haven't been there today, but I believe the carpets have being laid today.

I think the blinds are being installed

around about four o'clock today.

There will be a lot happening that I haven't seen yet.

But, yeah, just really excited about it.

On the other side of Swansea, Sharon is oblivious to the activity in her home.

She is on her way to work, supporting vulnerable adults in accessing further education,

training and employment. It's given her a new focus.

I've had quite a tough time myself.

However, when I come to work there are people there who have had it really tough.

Erm, and it does put things into perspective then.

It's great to see their achievements

throughout their learning journey.

Erm, and it's real job satisfaction, you know.

This award was a shock to me, because, since I've been on this scheme

and the certificates I've had, which are fantastic, which I thank you both for...

Today, Sharon is helping Neil,

but her thoughts are never too far from the extension.

'The last couple of nights, I haven't been able to sleep,

'thinking about what is actually going on in the extension.'

I came home from work last night

and as soon as I walked in the back door, it sort of hit me, the smell hit me.

I knew it was paint. So obviously they are painting out there.

You can hear noises, and the smells,

you're thinking, "What are they actually doing?"

Because I haven't seen it. I can't see through the little window now, because they've blocked it out.

So, it's wondering all the time what is going on out there.

So, yeah, it's countdown, now, countdown to Saturday.

Today is the day that Sharon and Katie will finally see their concrete-shell transformation.

It's also the day of reckoning for Jamie and his team.

Once, that is, they've finished admiring their handiwork.

Superb!

Ah, they've done a class job.

That's all the way throughout.

That's beautiful. Beautiful.

-Even up the apples!

-Even the plastering's pretty good, eh?

LAUGHTER

Oh, mate.

The finished extension truly will be a turning point for Sharon.

-Lights and all.

-'It's going to be a massive difference.

-'It will make a massive difference to us, isn't it, Kate?'

-'Yeah.'

Erm, I think we'll be able to use the front door again.

And your friends will be able to come over.

And, of course, I know Jamie's done a massive amount of work out there.

It's been a massive help. Because I wouldn't have been able to do it.

I just wouldn't have been able to do it, so it would have stayed like that.

It's been quite fun actually.

We've loved it. We've loved having everybody here.

It's going to be annoying when they've all gone. It'll be too quiet.

As is it's Katie's birthday in a few days,

-Sharon is taking her and friends for lunch...

-Have a good time.

..before returning home to inspect Jamie's work.

The clock's ticking, but Jamie seems to be a man down.

Last time I saw him, he was walking through that way somewhere

-with a little carton in his hand.

-What's that, a portion of chips?

He's on the chip bus, is he?

Let's go and find him, shall we?

-Corey!

-What?

Whenever you fancy doing a stroke of work, you know, just let me know,

it's not as if we are up against a deadline or anything(!) Yeah?

Corey isn't allowed to refuel for long.

They only have a few hours to finish the job.

There's just one more thing before Jamie can relax.

Both he and Katie are huge Chelsea fans.

Hang on, what do you think you're doing?!

-We're improving the room, not making it look worse!

-JAMIE MAKES MUFFLED NOISES

-Get that down, for goodness sake!

-JAMIE LAUGHS

It looks as though they may just have finished in time.

-How are you girls?

-Are you all right?

-Yes.

It's all good this end.

As you can see, this is just the first bit as you come into the door.

-You can finally use...

-Oh, my God, yes.

-..the front door.

A massive difference. That is so different.

I believe this is going to be the bedroom for Katie.

Oh, my God! Oh!

Oh, my God! It's a room. A real room.

-What do you think?

-I think it's lovely.

-Again, a massive change.

It is a massive change. It's ready and you can just move in.

-There we are. It's great.

-It's amazing.

This is going to be a chill-out room.

-This is going to be a chill-out room for you.

-Oh, my God.

-Oh, wow!

-Look at that.

-Oh, it's amazing.

-That is amazing.

The T-shirt is signed by John Terry. This can be your little bachelorette pad,

where you can chill out, have no distractions, do homework,

-chill, just do whatever you like, you know.

-Yeah.

-What do you reckon...

-I think it's brill.

-It's amazing.

-..on you chill-out room?

-It's really, really good.

It's just perfect, isn't it?

Finally, Sharon's hopeless burden may well be a distant memory.

-Thanks, Jamie.

-You're more than welcome. You are more than welcome.

SHE SOBS

-This is why we do it.

-Thank you.

-To help people. And you deserve the help.

-And I'm just pleased that we were here.

-Thank you.

You're more than welcome.

More than welcome.

-It's fabulous.

-Yes.

-It's really great.

When you get a reaction like that, it makes every single second worth it.

This is why we do what we do.

Because we know that it will help people in more ways than one.

As you can see, I am a bit choked. I can't talk now. But, yeah, it's wonderful.

You can't thank him enough, really.

What do you say?

-Come on, girls.

-It's another achievement for Jamie.

-But he's hungry for more.

-What's next is more of the same, in all fairness.

Just people keep on nominating other people.

We'd look at each nomination on a case-by-case basis

and just carry on.

As I like to say, changing the world one room at a time.

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